Just Because I
by Resting-Madness
Summary: Toboe has a stomachache and Tsume helps him feel better.


Disclaimers: I don't own wolf's rain characters or locations. I make no money from this, its just for fun.

Author's Note: I wrote this back when Wolf's Rain first came out. I don't even remember it, but I hope its good. Thank you for reading.

...

A low sound grumbled through the yellow clad wolf's stomach. It was the seventh time within the four minutes that had passed. But it wasn't so much the embarrassing sound that bothered the teen, as it was the fact that no one else seemed to care! "Hhhrrr!" Hige growled. "...It's official!" He continued ranting as the group reached a large bundle of trees.

"What?" Asked Toboe, turning around to see whats troubling his friend.

"I'm gonna starve to death, that's what!" Hige griped. The wolf's head dropped between his shoulders, and he sighed in absolute despair.

Tsume smirks, while heading down the trunk of a large tree that he had walked up when they arrived. "I still have some of that bug you didn't wanna eat before," He held a chunk out to him. "bet it's looking pretty good to you right now, huh porky?"

Hige snarled, then held his forearms over his stomach to prevent the volume level of the next on coming growl. Looking up at the offering, he used one of his hands to smack the large, disgusting piece of bug out of his smelling range. "Yuck, get that thing away from me!" He snapped.

Tsume didn't lose his cool, he just cocked his head while keeping the same guile smirk on his face. "Thought you said you were hungry?"

"Well I'm not _that_ hungry. So back off." He shoved past him and started up the large fallen tree trunk to where Kiba is standing.

"Hn, like it matters," Tsume said with a shrug. "Your stomach will start eating itself pretty soon, then you won't be hungry for a good few months." His eyes closed as he threw his head back and laughed.

"You wanna say that to my face!?" The starving wolf was becoming impatient with the rudeness of his fellow member of this bizzare pack.

"Hige," Kiba said reaching out a hand, holding the hungry male back. He knew how hostile his mate could be when he was hungry, and granted Tsume was asking for whatever was given to him, right now they didn't need to fight with each other.

The wolves were still stuck in the 'Dead Forest' and have been wandering for what's felt like days, maybe even weeks! They have been filling up on the large bugs in the area, whenever they saw them laying around from where the venus fly traps had killed them. But Hige stuck with his morals and refused the large, disgusting, things... even if it meant certain death without food. He wouldn't touch them.

"Besides, you can't call me fat when you're the one who's ripping out of his clothes." He said, referring to the tanned wolfs bare shoulders and gut, the rip on his thigh.

The others looked at Tsume as though it were for the first time and they laughed taking in his choice of wardrobe. Toboe seemed to be laughing the hardest, even though he didn't really want too. He did notice that Tsume's clothing was a little odd. But... Hmm, he liked it. Funny or not. Toboe didn't know why, but the older wolf made him a bit... uncomfortable- but in a good way though.

Kinda like how Hige said he'd felt when he first met Kiba. He just looked at him with those large blue eyes and he laughed. Ever since then they've felt that separating is uncomfortable, so they decided staying together was the best thing for the both of them.

Toboe would like that too, he thought that he could maybe find something like that with the little girl from the city, Leara. But what he wanted from her was another master- owner- to replace his... He didn't wanna think about it. Tsume did something to his stomach that he couldn't... "Aaah." He held onto his stomach, doubling over.

The others were up ahead still having their usual late night or early morning- which ever- arguement. Cheza was sleeping soundly against a tree and her eyes opened as soon as she felt one of her wolves in pain.

"Toboe..." She said rising to her feet. Kiba's attention was called to her actions and he followed her with his gaze as she walked over to the hunched over youngest wolf.

"Too bad we can't just eat you. It'd save us a lot of lip along the way." Hige was saying until he glanced up seeing Kiba. "What's with you?" He asked.

"Something's wrong with Toboe." He said following after Cheza.

"What?" Tsume looked over his shoulder to where the boy was last seen. He was a distance away from where they had all walked off too, the boy's now crouching down onto the gray dirt below him making sounds of protested pain.

"Rrr..." His eyes scrunched from the next wave of pain.

"Toboe is hurting?" Cheza asked kneeling beside him.

"Huh?" The young wolf looked up beside her and laughed quietly. "No I'm fine, I just-... Aaahh!"

"Toboe, wants this one to help?" She asked then.

Tsume stepped in between them and knelt down beside him. "Get away from him." His voice was toned with warn. He didn't mind travelling with her sure, but he refused to let Cheza plague Toboe with the same spell she put on Kiba or Hige.

"Tsume knock it off." Kiba said when he got up beside them. "Cheza can help him. You need to trust her."

"I don't have to trust anybody." The grey wolf looked over at Cheza with piercing golden eyes. "Her especially."

Kiba approached Tsume with contempt but Hige held him back. "I thought we weren't supposed to fight with each other." He teased.

Still, Kiba narrowed his eyes at the other wolf but he backed off.

"Rrr... It's alright Tsume. I don't mind if Cheza helps me." Toboe was saying.

Tsume still didn't want her to, but he couldn't say no to the boys own request. Not that it really meant all that much to him.

Moving aside, he watched closely as Cheza held her hands up to the boy, hesitant only a moment from the wolf's intense glare, then she began to pet him letting off a flowery scent that all of them could take in.

Kiba and Hige closed their eyes smelling the sweet scent of lunar flower going up their noses. But Tsume continued to watch the girl work on Toboe.

The young wolf began to laugh as though he were being tickled by her barely moving hands. Cheza smiled seeing the wolf's reaction, she almost hated to stop. But he seemed to be fine for the most part so she lowered her hands from him.

"That was nice." Toboe said.

"How do you feel?" Asked Tsume trying not to sound too concerned.

"I feel... rrrr." He held his stomach again.

Cheza didn't understand, she was sure her power had worked on the wolf. So why was he still in pain? Toboe quickly looked up at her and winked before he dropped his head back down making groaning sounds.

"Why didn't it work?" Kiba asked a little shocked. It had worked when Toboe had twisted his ankle a while back. Maybe for stomach pains he needs something more. "Cheza, can you pick up on any type of plants that may help him?"

"You mean like medicinal herbs?" Asked Hige.

Cheza closed her eyes and felt the voices of the plants harbouring the forest calling to her. She spoke with them asking if any could help their friend. A low russle of the wind and a gentle touch of her boot by a vine, the lunar flower pointed outward to where the voices came from.

"You think that would help Toboe?" Kiba looked off to where she was pointing.

Cheza nodded and began to walk. "That is what this one has heard." Kiba caught up to the moving girl taking her hand.

"You guys coming?" Asked Hige bringing up the rear.

"No. We're staying here." Tsume replied. "Just get the herb, and get your asses back here, fast."

The orange wolf shrugged, placing his arms behind his head. "Whatever. Hey Kiba, wait up!" He called ahead to his lover.

A groan from Toboe took Tsume's eyes from the retreating wolves and back to him. "Does it really hurt that badly, maybe we should find someplace to lie down." He looked from left to right for any sign of an opening or near by cave. "I think I see something over there," He stood up for a longer range in vision. "can you walk?"

The young wolf bared his teeth in mock pain, making a tiny sound of complaint as he rose to his feet. "I think so- Aahh!"

Tsume narrowed his eyes in frustration at Cheza. "That girl..." He grumbled as he hoisted the other wolf over his shoulder. "She probably just made things worse."

With Toboe on his back, the grey wolf headed for the opening underneath a large dead tree. The young wolf pressed his face between the larger man's shoulder blades taking in the rich scent of forest that was beginning to cling to his grey fur.

Toboe loves the way Tsume smells. It reminds him of the city that the two of them had left behind with their friends. He'd first been close enough to smell it when he aided the wound on Tsume's leg after that machine had shot him. The smell of blood and the city all mixed in one. One perfect scent that made Tsume.

Before he could notice they had reached the tree. Tsume looked inside a moment before walking under it. The inside was hallow as though someone had made a den there and left it behind. But looking at the tree itself, you could see that the cave was created from the tree nearly falling over out of the ground.

"Sit here." The gray wolf ordered, placing the young boy down. He walked back out of the cave intending to gather some leaves or moss. Anything soft for Toboe to rest his head on.

Toboe looked over at the entrance of the cave waiting for the other wolf to return and in the meantime he lay back placing his hands behind his head for cushioning. 'Sorry to do this to you Tsume...' He thought merrily. 'But this was the only way I could get us alone together.'

Hearing foot steps of his secret crush returning, Toboe started up his groans of pain again. "Ooooww... Did you get the grass?" He asked in a hushed tone.

Tsume didn't answer, he just dropped down to his knees and gestures for the boy to lift his head up. When the young wolf was moved out of the way, Tsume dropped the blades of grass and moss onto the ground beneath him. Toboe lay his head back and smiled up at the blades of grass that were taking their time coming down to the ground.

Lifting a finger to them, one gently brushed by his fingers causing a quiet chuckle from the boy. Tsume's mouth parted watching the younger wolf. It was the sweetest thing he's ever seen. The boy's silky hair all around his face, his big red eyes beaming with playfulness. Sure Tsume acted like a cold, heartless, bastard but underneath it all... He wanted things just like everyone else.

Even if one of those things that he wanted has mind enough to say, 'No' to him, Tsume couldn't help his feelings. So ignoring them, he found it easier to just care for his secret crush from afar. He wasn't good with feelings. Especially expressing them in a kind way. Toboe was younger, true, but that didn't bother him at all. It actually just gave him a feeling of being needed. Kind of like now... If he could just...

"Tsume."

"What?" His voice came out a little ruder than he intended.

Toboe seemed hesitant after the tone he'd just received but gathering his courage he pressed on saying. "When I used to get stomach aches as a cub, my grandmother would rub my stomach for me."

Tsume's eyes widened at the thought, only a brief moment, before they lowered back to their normal state. "So... What? Do you think I'm going to do that for you?" He scoffed out a laugh. "Puleeze, rub yourself."

"Please Tsume, it might make the pain stop. And it's never the same when you do it yourself." The young wolf pleaded heavily. Glancing at the gray wolf's hands, Toboe braved his actions and grabbed one, but the hand was quickly jerked back.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked with a harsh tone.

Seeing the young wolf's facial expression change to sad so rapidly pulled at his nerves. What harm could it do anyway? They were alone, right? Reaching his hand out, Tsume carefully lowered it onto the boys stomach and began to gently rub it.

Toboe blushed slightly, looking away from the older wolf. "Tha-..." He started to say but his words were cut off.

"Look... just because I'm doing this," Tsume began. "it doesn't mean that I care for you or anything."

Toboe smiled hearing the slight change in Tsume's voice. Touching him made the gray wolf feel just as many sparks as he was by being touched. Hige had always said he needed to pee a lot whenever Kiba made him feel that way before they got together.

He never knew what that meant, but he was beginning to understand now, as the other wolf's hand caressed softly and lazily over his not so pained stomach. 'Maybe I was wrong about you Tsume. Maybe you do like me, just as much as I like you.'

The gray wolf dropped his weight so that he were laying down beside the younger wolf on the cool ground. "Toboe... Sometimes..." He bit back his words.

This surprised the boy. Tsume never usually wanted to say anything, or at least not much of anything. 'Maybe I'm reading too much into it," The boy figured. 'He might just be trying to keep the silence out. I know I don't like it when it's too quiet.'

"...I never got to- before, when you cleaned my cut for me."

"You're welcome, Tsume." He replied simply. He didn't wanna make him uncomfortable, by forcing him to say things he couldn't.

"Right." He trailed off.

Something was on the older wolf's mind. But Toboe couldn't figure out what. Did he wanna tell him something? Or did he simply wanna stop rubbing his stomach for him?

"Tsume?" He grabbed the scarred wolf's hand in his own to stop the movement.

"Toboe," He squeezed his hand closed lightly clenching the two smaller ones that were around it. "Just because..." He swallowed. "sometimes, I might wanna," He rushed his next words out. "kiss you-"

Toboe gasped, his eyes gone wide.

"It doesn't mean that I lo-..." He cut his words off correcting himself. "I care for you or anything." The gray wolf lowered his eyes waiting for the laughter.

Toboe's eyes lowered as well, taking in what the wolf had said. 'He wants to...' Turning his head so that he could see his companion, Toboe asked. "What sometimes? You mean like now?"

Tsume closed his eyes sighing. 'I wish I never said anything. Who only knows what the kid's gonna say to the other two idiots, or that girl. I'll never hear the end of it.' Shaking his head back and forth, he tried saving himself by saying. "No. I meant to say..."

Just as he lifted his head to speak directly to the boy, a soft pair of lips landed on his own silencing him. It was bold of him, but he had to do it. Toboe had never really kissed someone before, except for a few licks on the cheek. So he prayed he was doing it right.

Tsume took control of the unplanned kiss, bringing his tongue out every so often, brushing it against the younger boys lips getting him used to the feeling. Toboe had seen Kiba and Hige kiss like this tons of times, without their knowing it, so he opened his mouth in response.

A low moan came from the boy's mouth when he felt the soft pink flesh touch his own. It was weird at first, and he didn't know what to do with it there, so he decided to just lick back.

Tsume's free hand came up to the young boys face, touching him tenderly as he pursued the kiss. Their faces moved closer to each others. Toboe dropped his hands from around the one that Tsume was rubbing him with to let him hold his face with that one as well.

But he got another surprise as the gray wolf held onto his hip instead. Their tongues swirled and glided around the other wolf's mouth, their lips meeting and parting in the middle over their tongues.

Tsume cocked his head plunging his tongue deeper into the young wolf's mouth, and without knowing so, the small body rolled over on top of his own letting a little pressure drop down onto him.

Toboe released another sigh of pleasure, feeling a tingle in his lower regions. Tsume's hand glided slowly up his back causing the younger boys heart to race right out of his chest. But the gentle, soothing, caress was soon gone and another sensation replaced it.

"Ow!" Toboe's hands came up to the back of his head. "Tsume, what'd you do that for?"

"You shouldn't fake being sick you little idiot." He sat up moving Toboe back a bit so that he was off of his groin and seated more on the upper half of his legs. "You're only holding us back a day in these god forsaking woods."

The young boy laughed. "So you knew?"

"Of course I did." He smiled with a know-it-all's smirk.

"Then why Tsume? Why did you go along with it?"

Tsume sighed and turned his head. "It's like I told you before. Just because I do things... it doesn't mean that I care."

Toboe smiled at the older boy and leaned forward, aiming again for his secret crushes soft lips.

"Hey you guys we got the herb!" It was Hige.

Tsume let out a groan of frustration, shoving the boy from his body. "Come on runt." He knelt down indicating for him to get onto his back.

"You wanna carry me?" He was confused.

"You were the one pretending to be sick, if they find out you were faking it I'll look like an idiot." He stated. "So get on."

"Do you think they found a way out and didn't tell us?" Hige said in a panic.

"I doubt it." Kiba looked around.

Cheza made a faint sound and the two wolves turned their gaze to where she was looking. Their friends emerged out from inside the tiny cave, both of them giving away nothing of what went on inside.

Hige took a whiff of air, smirking knowingly of that particular scent.

"We got the herb." Said Kiba coming over to them.

"Uuuggh," Toboe groaned.

Kiba held it out to him; taking it and with a little detest to the taste of the plant Toboe ate it, swallowing hard to get it down.

'Hn. Serves you right kid.' Thought Tsume with a laugh.

"We'd better keep moving." Said Kiba.

Hige smiled and followed after him commenting. "Yeah, this area smells funny. Kinda like a cat or a mouse took a piss on a tree."

"You can put me down if you want to." Toboe mentioned, wriggling a bit for when Tsume would let go.

The gray wolf just began to walk, with his grip still on the other wolf. "No, this way is faster. You are sick remember?"

"Yeah." The boy smiled pressing his forehead to the other wolf's back. "Tsume?"

"What?"

"Just because... I might wanna kiss you sometimes..." He paused. "It doesn't mean that I love you."

Tsume scoffed off a smile dropping the younger wolf onto his butt. "You can walk runt."

Toboe grinned ear to ear then laughed as he jumped up onto Tsume's back. "Nah, I think I want you to carry me."

"I said walk!" The wolf growled.

The others turned around watching the two of them practically flirting.

Confused Kiba asks "Wonder what's gotten into them?"

"Who cares, let's just hope we don't catch it."

The sun was setting high above the trees. But they couldn't tell. It was just nice to know that, whatever time or day it was they weren't gonna be alone anymore. Just because...

The End


End file.
